Out of Town and Broke Down

Are you really out of town when your living in your motor home? Home is where we park it. But we are in Leadville 33 miles from Avon(west Vail) where the RV is parked. I can't just drive into my own garage and replace the broken fan assembly that punched a hole in the radiator. We are 33 miles of mountain driving, that takes an hour under the best conditions, away from our motor home. First we find a place to leave the jeep, then find transportation back to the RV.

No parts within 3 days, no rental cars, no car dealers, one garage, price was out of line and won't be ready for days. We find a shuttle service that brings in skiers and hunters, they'll take us back to the RV in Avon later that afternoon($90). We get home late and start weighing our options. Having it repaired where it is? Find parts, pick them up, come back and make the repairs myself? We decide to take the RV up these mountain roads, hook up and tow the Jeep out to a location with parts. We make our way up the two lane blacktop into Leadville, altitude 10,200 feet. It's another beautiful day in the Rockies, were in by noon, hook-up and come out to Rifle, Colorado that afternoon. A little too "small town" for parts. A nice visitor center ( on I-70 west)with a rest area is home tonight.

The next morning I find the RV is low on coolant! "When it rains it pours" but this time it's raining coolant. No RV leaks when we hooked up the Jeep in Leadville, but I had to add coolant to the coach in Rifle. Our next town on I-70 west is Grand Junction, Colorado, a beautiful community spread out on the valley floor.The NAPA store has everything we need. Thanks to Chester and Auston they'll let me do the repairs behind the warehouse. It was in the low 40's yesterday morning in Avon, it's 95 this afternoon on this high mesa valley in Grand Junction, and warm in the parking lot. Retrieving the Jeep and making repairs held us up, but we still traveled west and are ahead of schedule. Now I start checking out the motor home leak. It looks like we picked up a stone nick in the radiator on the RV. Stop leak will have to hold it for the time being, we have eight days to join our friends in Las Vegas and we're still five or six hundred miles away. Three easy days travel, first night at Wal-mart in Richfield, Utah, a pretty town on I-70, central Utah, top off the reservoir, no sign of leaks. The next night at a casino campground in Mesquete, Nevada, temp 101, coolant is full. We have turned south on I-15 and have short run into Las Vegas on the third day. Coolant in the coach was still full that afternoon, we'll check into a campground, temp 108. John and Kris will be in on Thursday, Betsy arrives on Saturday, the next two weeks will be busy.

John and Kris surprised us with tickets for the Terry Fator show at the Mirage. A great show, you can see why his talent won the "Americas Got Talent" reality program. Somehow the productions in Las Vegas are even more special. On Saturday night all five of us went to the Bellagio for Cirque du Soleil show "O". This surreal aquatic romance is preformed in, on and above the water by scores of acrobats, synchronised swimmers, and show people . The stage, pool, and areal props, with lighting and orchestra make this fabulous, still the best show in Vegas. John and Kris had to leave Monday night, but we were out again on Tuesday night to see Bette Midler with Betsy. The Grammy winning Divine Miss M. was in rare form. Always one to "tell it like it is" even if it meant poking fun at herself. She was at the coliseum in Cesars, one of the best "rooms" in town. A variety song and dance show with a high kicking, skimpy costume corus line. Good comedy and music. Another great production.

The last two weeks went by fast. The shows were great, the gambling was awful. It was good to see our friends again. We all had a good time but you can see the effects of the economy. Penny machines and low limit card games are the most popular. At the end of the day, only our money stayed in Vegas. The good news, no signs of any more leaks in the coach. A two hour side trip to Laughlin, Nevada was smooth, coolant was full. Laughlin is on the Colorado at the very bottom of Nevada. Arizona is 200 feet away, across the river. A few days rest here and a swim in the river will be great. From here we'll start thinking about the trip back to Florida. We'll make our way down to I- 40 and head east toward Albuquerque for the balloon fiesta in October. More then ......Skip and Linda